The greatest wealth is health.

8/16/10

We are used to using vending machines for crisps, drinks and toiletries - but are we ready for them to give us our prescription drugs?

Each year, 886 million prescription drug items are dispensed in England and it is hoped this new technology can streamline the process.

There are questions though over if it is safe to break the patient-pharmacist link, if drugs stored in the machine will be safe from thieves and if people could fraudulently pick up the medicine meant for others.

Two different types of machines are being trialled with the aim of national roll-out across England.

The supermarket chain Sainsbury's is currently piloting a scheme in two of its West Sussex stores. After a year it will look at customer feedback, before deciding whether to extend to other stores. It is hoped the machines will speed up customer queuing times.

How it works

Customers will use a unique ID or fingerprint as well as a Pin when putting in their prescription and again when they come back to collect the medicine, ensuring the drugs go to the correct person. While the patient waits, the pharmacist will prepare and place the drugs into the machine for collection.

Each machine can hold up to 450 packs of medicines.

While the machines will be available only alongside the in-store pharmacy service, it is possible to conduct the whole process without face-to-face contact.

Repeat prescribing accounts for 80% of prescription items - the other items are treatments the patient has not used before and may be unfamiliar with.

8/10/10

According to Reuters, “The United States spends more on healthcare than any country in the world but has higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes and other ills than many other developed countries.”

Every year, without fail, spending for services covered by private health insurance increases. Sometimes health care spending grows slowly, as it did in the mid-1990s during the managed-care boom. But more often, it increases rapidly, as it is doing now — in part because of the managed-care bust.Between 1999 and 2003, the per capita spending for services covered by private health insurance increased by 39 percent. Given that the average hourly earnings of U.S. workers increased by only percent during that period (see FigureFigureAnnual Percent Changes per Capita in Health Care Expenditures and in Average Hourly Wages for Workers in All Industries, 2000 through 2003.), affordability is an acute and growing concern.

The simple explanation for rapidly increasing health care costs is that people are getting more care, much of which is associated with new medical technologies. But many experts have doubts about the value of some of this care in relation to its cost. And when health care costs increase at a much faster rate than incomes, many people — especially those with low incomes — can no longer afford insurance coverage.

Reporting from Washington — In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew to a record 17.3% of the U.S. economy last year, marking the largest one-year jump in its share of the economy since the government started keeping such records half a century ago.The almost $2.5 trillion spent in 2009 was $134 billion more than the previous year, when healthcare consumed 16.2% of the gross domestic product, according to an annual report by independent actuaries at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, scheduled for release Thursday.Considering the national health-care discussion in Congress, it doesn't appear that reform is on the way. Because while the Congressional debate over the national health-care plan focuses on reforming America's employer-based insurance system and adding a "public option" of Government-provided health insurance, these debates are akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic if our total health costs don't drop dramatically, and soon.

While supporters of the health-care bill claim it will eventually lead to costs savings, analysts have questioned these projections. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that the proposed legislation would do little to stem the rise in health-care expenditures, according to the CFR report.

Critics such as Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard claim that the highly complex plan "low-balls costs and exaggerates the means for paying for it." The bill purports to cut the $1.5 trillion Federal budget deficit by $118 billion, but actually will end up borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars more, Barnes says.

U.S. officials reported a 400 per cent increase over 10 years in the proportion of Americans treated for prescription painkiller abuse and said the problem cut across age groups, geography and income.

pain killer:Due to the physical dependence produced by chronic use of opioid painkillers, teens who are prescribed pain killer medications need to be monitored not just when they are appropriately taking the medicine, but also when they stop using the drug to reduce or avoid withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms of withdrawal can include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and involuntary leg movements

Addictive prescription drugsproduce an artificial feeling of pleasure. If pain killing prescription drug use is stopped when no longer needed for real pain, there is less chance of the prescription drug becoming addictive to that user. This is possibly due to the non-abusing patients’ pain levels reducing some of the opioid euphoric effects. Such drugs short-circuit your survival system by artificially stimulating the pleasure areas in your brain. As this happens, it leads to increased confidence in the drug and less confidence in normal body feelings and the rewards of life. This first happens on a physical level, then like other addictive drugs, it has a psychological effect. Interest in other aspects of life decreases as reliance on the drug increases. People, places and activities involved with using these drugs become increasingly important. Conversely, lifestyles that worked through your normal reward system before using the drug begin to diminish. After awhile, a heavy prescriptive drug user, like the illicit drug user, will actually resent people, places, and activities that do not fit in with that drug use.

7/22/10

Latisse is the new FDA-approved eyelash growth treatment that has been shown to grow thicker, darker, and longer eyelashes. Today you can allow yourself to look natural without cosmetics and MASCARA.

Latisse is the same formula as Lumigan, Allergan’s eyedrops for glaucoma, which reduces eye pressure but also happens to grow lashes. Both are also known as bimatoprost ophthalmic solution. In early 2009, Allergan introduced the drug as a lash enhancer.

The commercial name of the medication may differ from the brand one. Generic Latisse manufactured by Ajanta is available under commercial name Bimat. Generic Latisse comes with one applicator brush.

However when using Latisse without seeing a doctor, the side effects may come as a big surprise. Among the common Side effects such as eye irritation are of temporary nature and they disappear after first few uses. Darkening of the eyelids close to the application area is also a common side effect. This is reversible by stopping the use of the Latisse solution.

Today you can easily find and buy Generic Latisse online at any online pharmacy store.But it is insistently recommend to use this drug under doctor supervision only.“When the F.D.A. approved this product for marketing, they made a determination that the side effects or misuse or inappropriate use could cause harm, and that’s why they restricted it to a prescription drug,” said Carmen A. Catizone, the executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which represents state agencies that regulate pharmacies and pharmacists. “If it was completely safe to use without doctor supervision, they would have deemed it over-the-counter.”

All doctors explain how to use the medication, even though you can easily find this info online.Some doctors proscribe the medication without careful examination. In order to avoid any side effects that this product might cause you should insist on medical examination.

How to apply:

* Ensure the face is clean, makeup and contact lenses are removed.* Once nightly, place one drop of LATISSE (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution)0.03% on the disposable sterile applicator supplied with the package and apply evenly along the skin of the upper eyelid margin at the base of the eyelashes. The upper lid margin in the area of lash growth should feel lightly moist wijavascript:void(0)thout runoff.* Dispose of the applicator after one use.* Repeat for the opposite eyelid margin using a new sterile applicator.

7/19/10

For years, credible online pharmacies have charged too much for generic medications. Generics are copycat versions of brand-name drugs, allowed once patents expire. They're clinically identical, but much cheaper to produce. Clinically, there is no difference!

No one outside the industry knows the precise manufacturing cost. Generic drugs online are cheaper than their brand name equivalents because the manufacturers do not have the research and development costs associated with bringing new drugs to the market.

What we have is access to brand name as well as generic over-the-counter medication with choice for patients and competition between manufacturers, which brings prices down.

Manufacturers determine what to charge for generic drugs and governments set the prices they will pay for publicly funded medications.

Under the deal, the cost of generic prescription drugs will drop from 65 per cent of the brand name cost to 35 per cent.Studies suggest a fair estimate would be 35 per cent or less of the brand-name equivalent. Yet pharmacies have been collaborating with manufacturers to charge 65 per cent of the patent-protected medications' prices.

The government's clean-up of generic online pharmaceuticals is an excellent start.The drop started from Canada. "By requiring the generic drug industry to reduce its excessive prices, the government is doing its job to ensure the sustainability of Quebec's Prescription Drug Insurance Plan," stated Rx&D president Russell Williams, noting that the generic drugs sold in Canada are among the most expensive in the world.

British Columbia is joining Ontario in cracking down on the rising cost of generic prescription drugs. But the province is avoiding the kind of highly public fight Ontario’s government had with the country’s largest drug store chains by offsetting lower revenue with new funding to expand pharmacy services, sources say.

British Columbia spends more than $900 million annually on prescription drugs through its PharmaCare program, The Globe and Mail said. Generic drugs are capturing a greater percentage of that amount, totaling $286 million in fiscal year 2008-09.

The B.C. government will announce on Friday that it will cut the price of generic drugs by reducing rebates manufacturers pay to pharmacies in return for selling their products, industry sources familiar with the plan said. Unlike Ontario, British Columbia will not abolish the rebates altogether, the sources said.

6/25/10

Before President Obama signed health care reform, Medicare beneficiaries first paid a deductible of $310 for online prescription drugs. Then Medicare pays 75 percent of charges up to $2,830. After that, coverage would stop cold until all of a senior’s out of pocket spending totalled $4,550. For those who reached this level of cost, which the government calls catastrophic, Medicare picked up again and covers 95 percent of the beneficiary’s drug bills.

The new health care reform law fills in the hole gradually between now and 2020. This year only, Medicare will send about 4 million people who reach the donut threshold a one-time rebate check of $250.

According to Peter Ashkenaz, a spokesperson for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seniors will receive their checks about a month after they reach the donut hole.

Next year, Ashkenaz explained Medicare patients will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs and a 7 percent discount generic drug brands. “If people need more, they could qualify for extra help and should talk to their state health insurance program and Social Security office to apply for extra help,” he said. The hole will be gradually filled a bit more each year after until it is completely closed over the course of the decade.

Medicare beneficiaries will receive a monthly mailing from Medicare showing how far along they are in spending.

A looming problem, Ashkenaz added, is that seniors need to be wary of scams. For instance, criminals have called seniors to say they are from Medicare and only need your Social Security number and bank information to deposit the $250 in your account.\

Political movers and shakers could not easily deny coverage to very sick people, so they agreed that Medicare should pay for medicine beyond amounts they said would be financially catastrophic for people. So instead of simply stopping coverage at a certain point, they ceased drug reimbursements at a midpoint and agreed to pick up spending again when people reach devastating amounts – amounts attained by a relatively small percentage of Medicare beneficiaries.

6/23/10

PRESIDENT OBAMA marked the 90-day anniversary of signing the health care bill into law by saying that Americans across the country are already seeing the effect of the health care bill.

The insurance rules, all of which are set out in the new law, were put in the bill by the Obama administration and its Democratic allies to provide Americans with some early protections until the insurance market is completely overhauled in 2014.

The regulations, all of which were outlined in the original legislation, include:

• Barring insurance plans, with some exceptions, from denying coverage to children under 19 with preexisting medical conditions.• Prohibiting insurers from rescinding coverage except in clear cases of fraud.• Prohibiting insurance companies from imposing lifetime limits on what they will pay for care.• Banning insurers from imposing annual limits of less than $750,000 on coverage of essential benefits including maternity care, emergency services and pharmaceuticals. (The minimum annual limit would rise to $2 million by 2014.)• Prohibiting insurers from requiring that their customers get prior approval before getting emergency care outside the provider network.

With some exceptions, insurance plans starting after September will no longer be able to deny coverage to children under 19 with pre-existing medical conditions or to rescind coverage except in clear cases of fraud.

In all polls, independent voters are more disapproving of Obama and of the Democrats’ health legislation than not.There have, though, been some instances where the influence of powerful corporate lobbies has been clear. They won obvious victories in defeating amendments on the floor or in committee on issues such as drug reimportation from abroad, bringing online generic drugs to market more quickly, and closing the so-called Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” (by which Medicare covers prescription costs up to $2,700 and over $6,154 but not in between).

What are the initial changes Americans will experience in the new Health Care bill?Do you feel the changes in the health care payment system will be better for America?Why do so many Americans seem to be against the new health care bill?what does the new health care bill mean for middle class americans?